Roark rounding into form right as Nationals need it

Tanner Roark isn't No. 1 on the list of "Most Important Nationals for the Remainder of the Season," but he's on the list somewhere, and probably closer to the top than the bottom.

The Nats have been built to win behind consistently great starting pitching for many years now, and typically as Roark has gone so has the team as a whole. So among the most significant developments of the second half to date has been the reemergence of the wily right-hander as a guy who can be counted on to deliver big-time starts rather than a guy who hopefully can find a way to get the job done.

With seven innings of one-run ball today, Roark didn't merely pitch the Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Reds. He extended his streak of dominant starts to three, as dominant a three-game stretch as he's put together in a long time, if ever.

"He's definitely got confidence right now, and it's always a good thing," manager Davey Martinez said. "When you're starting to pitch the way he's been pitching, the more he does it, the better he's going to feel in his own head."

Roark's head must be screwed on especially tight right now, because he's pitching like a man determined to turn a disastrous season into a memorable one.

When he departed for the All-Star break three weeks ago, Roark was the not-so-proud owner of a 3-12 record, 4.87 ERA and admittedly shattered confidence. All he's done in three starts since is go 3-0 with an 0.82 ERA, striking out 20 while walking only one over 22 innings.

What changed? There have been some subtle mechanical tweaks involving Roark's placement on the rubber (more toward the center instead of all the way on one side) and his timing (waiting to throw the ball until his hips have cleared). And there's been a mental change as well, with the 31-year-old deciding not to overthink things and go back to what made him successful in the first place.

"I think it really comes down to trusting his sinker, and trusting that it's OK if a ground ball gets through, that he's got another double-play ground ball coming after that," catcher Matt Wieters said. "I think that's the big thing. A lot of times guys get on base and you can try to do too much. And he's continued to be the same Tanner every pitch that he goes out there."

Never was that more evident than during the top of the fourth this afternoon, when a potentially disastrous situation - bases loaded, nobody out - proved to be not so bad and actually serve as a further confidence boost.

Though he gave up an RBI single to Mason Williams, trimming the Nationals' lead to 2-1, Roark recognized that the previous three hits all came via weak contact. He may still have been in a jam, but he didn't believe he needed to make a drastic change to his approach in that moment.

"It's easy to get in your own head in that spot," he said. "But you've just got to continue to grind and make your pitches and not give in."

Roark did just that. He got Tucker Barnhart to pop up. He struck out Brandon Dixon on a 93-mph fastball. And that allowed him to face opposing pitcher Luis Castillo with two outs, inducing an inning-ending flyball to right.

Yes, the Reds scored a run. But in a way, that inning as a whole proved a net positive for Roark and the Nationals.

"Absolutely," Martinez said. "He kept us in the lead. We were still up a (run). Getting out of that inning with the bases loaded, it could've been a lot worse. So it definitely was a boost for the guys."

Roark would cruise from that point on, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. He walked off the mound after a 1-2-3 seventh with his pitch count still a mere 88, but with his spot in the lineup due to come up in the bottom of the inning, he was the recipient of handshakes and hugs when he arrived in the dugout.

The Nationals wound up taking three of four from the Reds, this after sweeping a two-game series from the Mets. They've won nine games since the All-Star break, and Roark has received the W in three of those.

Suffice it to say, the right-hander is finally rounding into form at an important moment.

"What he's doing right now, we need that," Martinez said. "And it's a big pick-me-up for us right now."